Did I just read the perfect second chance romance?!

I love Wren and Ellis so much. The vulnerability was palpable. One of the things that makes this such a good second chance is that the reasons for the relationship failure are not only addressed head on, but we see repeated instances of change in each character. Things aren’t perfect and all the problems aren’t fixed, but the things they couldn’t do before, they can do now. I also really appreciated the balance. For something that could be so so heavy, this story had so much hope and lightness throughout.

“I'll love you for everything left of forever, in every lifetime we get.”

Thank you macmillan audio for the gifted ALC!

5⭐️

Um just WOW! I’m a sucker for second chance romance (unpopular opinion ik) but this one just blew me away. The chemistry between Ellis and wren is electric and screamsssss soulmates 🤌

Watching these two slowly fall back in love after the heartbreak of infertility was STUNNING! The emotional depth in their conversations was insane. It wasn’t just a “omg I miss you let’s get back together”, they dug into their issues and solved them. And the SPICE?? Wowza I was not expecting that 😌

As for the audio, I lovedddd the narrators!! They absolutely brought these characters to life for me. Connor is one of my fav narrators, so loved having him narrate this one! I would’ve loved to see this as fully duet though. I didn’t love that they narrated in dual, but also narrated their own texts/letters? Might as well go full duet 🥺

Gahhh this book!!

It was so incredibly emotional, heartfelt, and moving. This is a first for me with Tarah, but it will definitely not be the last.

Ellis & Wrens story is forever etched on my heart. But two.

Well this book destroyed me.... it was just so so good. Wren and Ellis are divorced but they are still so in love with each other, as the story progresses and we learn the reasons for the divorce we see how so many events in their lives just made it so difficult for them, instead of getting closer from their grief and sadness it tore them apart and it just felt so real.

Now as their son Sam is heading off to college they make the decision to drop him off together and take a road trip, It's a time for them to talk and get to know each other again. It is the perfect second chance romance in my eyes and i thoroughly enjoyed it, i also sobbed....because i am just that soft.


The narrators really added something to the story and brought the characters to life for me, I read the arc first and then listened to the audio and i have to be honest, their was an added level of emotion in the audiobook for me.
Must read!

Wren and Ellis are divorced but still have feelings for each other. Putting their past behind them, the two decide to put on a united front to see Sam off to college, with Ellis then suggesting a road trip for the two of them in the hopes of getting their relationship back on track. Will the trip work?
 
Oh my heart! This story was everything. I feel like Tarah DeWitt's books just keep getting better and better. Having a previously married couple as our main characters was genius. The chemistry was already there when the two were together but the shared history and stories and the way they communicated just made it all the better. Sweet and spicy, this book was a delicious mix. I absolutely adored the ending. Huge praise for the audiobook narrators who brought both these characters to life!

I was a bit weary going into this book, a second chance between ex-spouses? As a divorced thirty something myself, I just couldn’t quite wrap my head around the concept. But Tarah pulled it together and pulled it off with aplomb. I was hooked from the first chapter, even though I did need to revisit Savor It, to simpler remind myself that, yes I have met this character before. I loooooved that even though this was about two ex-spouse, co-parent, childhood sweethearts they had depth and independence from those things even while exploring all that those things weigh on not only their individual lives but their relationship with each other. I was so invested in Ellis journey through all his emotional baggage and Wren’s strength as a person and mother figuring out adulthood and all its challenges. The narrators for both characters did a fantastic job of bringing this story to life. I hope that we get more of the Byrd family in the future.

T

Duet narration: Conor Crais & Megan Wicks

Firefighter X Bakery owner
Pen Pals
Roadtrip
Second Chance

The longing for the love they lost in each other is so raw and heartbreaking. They clearly still love the other and the outside forces that kept hitting them became too much, listening to them both talk about their relationship was really emotional.

Their journal entities to each other?! Please yall, I LOVED them. This man.. he freaking listened to every concern she had of him in the past relationship and did the work!!

“His DNA altered mine”

I was thrilled to receive an advanced listener copy of this beautiful book. Connor Crais and Megan Wicks deliver phenomenal performances! If you enjoy reading with your ears you do not want to miss this audiobook!!
Left of Forever is the second book in the Spunes, OR series by Tarah DeWitt and it’s unputdownable. This could be read as a standalone but is more enjoyable in series order. Wren and Ellis Byrd are high school sweethearts that fell in love as kids, had their son Sam as teens, and now in their 30s everything has fallen apart. Divorced for five years, but still carrying love for each other, the two are about to send their son to college out of state. They decide to extend their roadtrip back home to Spunes in an attempt to give their relationship one last shot.
Left of Forever is a spectacular and emotional second chance romance that had me crying and rejoicing! I was dying for Ellis and Wren’s story when we first got a peek into their lives in book one, Savor It, and Tarah did not disappoint. This may be her best book yet. Ellis and Wren are so complex, relatable, and easy to root for. The entire Byrd family is a blast, I hope we see more of them in future books!
Read this if you like:
-second chance romance
-roadtrips
-small town
-epistolary
-she’s a baker
-he’s a firefighter

5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️

“I’ll love you for everything left of forever, in every lifetime we get.”

Thank you Tarah DeWitt, NetGalley, and Macmillan Audio for this ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Left of Forever is a heartfelt, slow-burn romance that delivers emotional depth and genuine chemistry. Tarah DeWitt once again shows her talent for creating flawed, lovable characters who feel real in both their pain and their joy. The story unfolds with tenderness, exploring themes of grief, healing, and the courage it takes to open your heart again.
The writing is lyrical without being overdone, and the small-town setting adds warmth and charm. Some secondary characters could have been more fleshed out, but the central romance carries the story beautifully.

A lovely, emotional read that lingers after the last page.

Thank you to @macmillan.audio for providing me an early copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.

What an absolutely beautiful book!

These two had already stolen my heart when Silas yelled, “She’s still a Byrd!” in 𝘚𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳 𝘐𝘵, so yeah, you could says I was a wee bit excited when Tarah announced this book!

From these two saying goodbye to their son as they dropped him off at college, to all the open communication on their road trip, I was constantly feeling all the feels.

And the writing was just so beautiful. I highlighted so many passages throughout. Far too many to share here; I’ll let you experience them while reading. 🥰

And I LOVED how mature these two were when it came to opening up; it definitely brought us to some really deep places, and honestly, *communication* is something I will always eat up in a romance novel! 😍

Gah, I can’t get enough of Spunes and these characters, and…I wouldn’t mind going back again, if something sparks in Tarah’s mind! 👀

Audiobook notes: SO good! Both Connor Crais and Megan Wicks were fantastic at delivering all the humor and emotion. They definitely got me weeping at the end.

What this book is giving:
✅ Contemporary Romance
✅ Dual POV
✅ Second Chance
✅ Road Trip
✅ Letters
✅ “She’s still a Byrd!”

Tarah is easily one of the best romance writers we have in the game. Her couples are always so real and raw you can't help but fall head over heels for them. This is a flawless second chance romance and I'll forever be thinking about the Bryds. Audiobook was insanely well done. Loved it!

This book was a masterpiece. Tarah DeWitt is an artist. There was a constant, very real thread of emotional devastation sewn into the story from the very beginning with characters we already knew and very much loved from Savor It. But this book didn’t feel like a continuation as much as it just felt absolutely its own. The story truly built and built and built in the best, most real way.

And the narrators!!!! I loved the way Megan Wicks voice sounded - so smokey and lovely and perfectly embodied Wren. Connor Crais made Ellis sound strong and stern and was exactly what I would want Ellis Byrd to sound like. The way they brought these characters to life… the way they emoted and inflected their way throughout this story?! There couldn’t have been a more perfect pairing. The narrators poured themselves into this project and it shows.

I’m sure that this story could pierce through any heart open to reading it… but I really just sobbed my way through so much of this book. (And completely through the final chapters.) I quite honestly cannot recall a book that made me cry so much for such a prolonged amount of time?! I think I cried the entire last quarter of the book. I saw so much of myself in Wren and in this book.

SO much of this book reminded me of my husband and I. As a result, this book was equal parts beauty and devastation while feeling incredibly personal! It reminded me to look for the beauty that exists right alongside the pain. It reminded me that we are created & programmed to remember the bad, hurtful, scary stuff in order to survive. But that it’s just as important to our survival to recall those wonderful moments, too.

I laughed through so many Silas moments in this book that I can only pray we get another book that centers on him.

The hugest thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC copy of this book. And even BIGGER thank you to Tarah DeWitt for creating this miracle of a story and for sharing it. 🖤

This was everything I wished it would be and more. The summary pulled me in and then Wren & Ellis stole my entire heart.

A second chance romance with an already established couple (with a hint of best friend’s older brother??) is something I eat right up. There’s not enough of them. But this one is such a great addition to the trope.

This is my first Tarah DeWitt book and she’s gained herself a fan! This was well written, the pace made sense, and the relationship itself was realistic in the best of ways. Plus the spice?! 🔥 Not just good, but sexy, which I feel like some books miss.

I loved so many things, but just a ✨few✨ are:
• Spunes, OR (pronounced spoons)
• paper birds
• the mutual pining
• the entire Byrd family
• the cover art - like wow 🤩
• the audiobook narrators

This is a standalone, which I realized when I started it, in the Spunes series - which I’ll definitely be reading. Now I need to go back and read Sage and Fisher’s story! Excited for the other siblings books 📚

The Basics:
Wildland Firefighter//Bakery Owner
Second Chance Romance (childhood sweethearts, divorced)
MCs in their 30s
1st Person Dual POV
Standalone, Part of a Series
🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5


Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook ARC 🤍

I'd like to firstly thank MacMillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to this amazing ALC!

I absolutely LOVED this audiobook! I think that both Megan Wicks and Connor Crais did a fantastic job telling the love story between Wren and Ellis!

I love a good second-chance romance, but this one just hit so different and pulled at all of the heartstrings. Wren and Ellis have been in each other's lives since they were children. Wren and Ellis got pregnant when they were teens, and wanted to do the best thing that they saw fit for their family, and married young. Their marriage had many happy moments, but was also filled with loss and the separation that grief brings. I loved seeing these two come together to help their son move into his first college apartment and experience the road trip that they took on their trek back home.

This is actually my first ever book by Tarah DeWitt (I know, I know....this was book 2...oops!), and I can't wait to dive into more of her books! I actually own Savor It (book 1 in the Spunes series) and The Co-op, so it looks like I have some reading to do!

If you like these tropes, this book may be for you!
- Second-change Romance
- MCs in their 30's
- Firefighter MMC
- Forced Proximity
- All of the yearning!!
- Small Town
- Road Trip

This was my first Tarah DeWitt novel and I was instantly hooked with Ellis and Wren's story. I always enjoy an "older" couple featured in a romance novel, so I was expecting to devour this. Unfortunately, it kind of petered out for me.

I feel like the author tried to combine lots of romantic gestures (letter writing, vacation planning, etc.) for Ellis and Wren to experience, but it all felt a bit too much. The letter writing was adorable but faded away and seemed almost unnecessary by the end of the book. I understand needing sexual tension between characters that have missed each other for years, but Ellis and Wren felt more like horny teenagers instead of adults at times, which took away from their mature conversations.

I may give DeWitt another chance, especially if we get books for Silas and Micah. I think she is fantastic at writing witty banter and including real-life conflicts. I'd just like to see a bit more cohesiveness in her future books.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy of this audiobook.

The audiobook itself was amazing! But while the story was great it just felt a little bit low stakes and I found myself underwhelmed.

I am the queen of second chance romance and this one just hit so different. Tarah is so great at writing emotional charged reads and men who are just DOWN BAD! Ellis is so gone over Wren, its not even funny. I loved spending time with these two characters and watching their love reignite.

Thank you NetGalley & Macmillan Audio for the opportunity! I was lucky enough to get my hands on two arcs for this amazing book! Both digital and audio, for that I will forever be thankful. Following along while doing the audio felt so intimate almost like I was in the story myself.

I can’t even describe into actual words what this book meant to me while reading and now that I’m done. We got to meet Wren and Ellis in ‘Savor it’ and from the very beginning, I knew their story wasn’t finished. Truly what an amazing journey these two amazing characters took us thru. The love they both shared as not only lovers but as a family was so admirable. It just breaks my heart that I will never get to be a Byrd, long live the Byrd family. Can you tell my favorite trope is found family? Hehe, no but seriously if you love small towns, found family and second chance well then look no further because this is the book for you.

Obsessed is an understatement. This book made me cry in the prologue, so just prepare.

This is a beautifully written story about love, loss, and growth. If you haven’t read a book by Tarah Dewitt yet, you should really change that. I do strongly encourage reading “Savor It” prior to reading this.

This book felt like it spoke to me as someone who has been with their partner for 10+ years. The tension and yearning was SOOOOOO so so good. I was rooting for them harder than I have rooted for any other fictional couple before.

If you don’t enjoy second-chance romance, I dare you to read this. The audiobook was so well done. It is dual, but some aspects make it seem like it is done in duet. so good. So beautiful. I will be sending in my petition for Tarah to give the rest of the characters their own stories, too. So Tarah, if you are reading this....

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

I received an advanced listener copy of Left of Forever by Tarah DeWitt from NetGalley, and I absolutely loved it! This book completely won me over, even though second chance romance isn’t usually my go-to trope.
The story follows Wren and Ellis, two people who share a deep and complicated history. They were high school sweethearts, were married for many years and share a son about to start college. While Ellis is away for a few weeks fighting forest fires he receives a letter and care package from an anonymous source. Wren thinks she's just sending a care package to unknown firefighters but Ellis knows it's her as soon as he sees the letter.
The letters become a turning point for him. Through her words, he realizes just how much he lost and how badly he wants to win her back. But before he even tries, he does the work on himself—going to therapy, learning to open up, and becoming the partner Wren truly deserves.
The emotional depth in this book is incredible. The longing, love, and vulnerability between Wren and Ellis is so well written, and it made their journey feel incredibly real. Ellis is now one of my all-time favorite book boyfriends—he’s thoughtful, tender, and genuinely grows throughout the story.
The narration was also top-notch. The narrators brought so much emotion and nuance to the story that it made listening to this audiobook a truly immersive experience.
Left of Forever is heartfelt, beautifully written, and emotionally rich. If you love strong character development, meaningful romance, and second chances done right, this book is a must-read (or listen!)